Baseball is the National Pastime, but literally every pitch thrown in both the major and minor leagues carries a piece of the Garden State to the plate. That’s because for more than 75 years every baseball put in play has first been rubbed with a little bit of Lena Blackburn Baseball Rubbing Mud, which takes the shine and slickness off of the ball. This “Miracle Mud,” which is collected from a secret spot right here in New Jersey, is as much a part of baseball as peanuts and Cracker Jack. Chris Adair, part time assistant geologist in DEP’s Division of Water Supply & Geoscience, and Mike Morvay, director of grounds for the Lakewood Blue Claws minor league baseball team, sat down with Bob Bostock to discuss the important link between New Jersey’s geology and baseball.